Status: 06/13/2023 5:09 p.m
For Luca Waldschmidt, the VfL Wolfsburg chapter is over for the time being after two years. The international is moving to Bundesliga rivals 1. FC Köln on loan for a year. There the offensive man hopes to find his way back to his old strength.
On Monday afternoon Luca Waldschmidt, 27 years old, actually under contract with VfL Wolfsburg and actually on his well-deserved vacation, roared through Cologne in his rather expensive car. The offensive man’s goal was the Mediapark Clinic in Neustadt-Nord. Wearing a cool T-shirt, a cool baseball cap and cool sunglasses, he drove into the building’s underground car park. For Waldschmidt, the mandatory medical check before changing clubs was due.
A procedure that the native of Siegen has long been familiar with. The “Effzeh” will be the sixth club in his professional career. He couldn’t stand it anywhere for more than 24 months. The football nomad with the fine left foot has to be credited with the fact that five of his six club changes were beneficial for his career. Only the step from Benfica Lisbon to VfL two years ago turned out to be a mistake in retrospect.
Only 13 starting eleven appearances in two years
At the Werksclub, Waldschmidt was never the undisputed regular and quite a long way from being the hoped-for top performer. He has just made 13 starts in the Bundesliga in the Wolfsburg jersey. A measly record for a man for whom the Lower Saxony reportedly transferred twelve million euros to Benfica and even made a huge bargain with it.
Actually, the traditional Portuguese club could have asked for a multiple for the national player. His working paper ran for four more years when VfL was courting Waldschmidt. And a fixed transfer fee was also anchored in this contract: 88 million euros.
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Breakthrough in Freiburg, move to Lisbon
The offensive player joined the “Adler” after two successful years at SC Freiburg. In Breisgau he had become a national player and had aroused the desires of many clubs with consistently good performances. Waldschmidt opted for Benfica. “I am very grateful for the trust that the sports club has placed in me and I have always tried to repay that. I will not forget that I was able to become a national team player here. Now I have decided to take the next step and I’m looking forward to the new task,” he said before leaving for the Atlantic coast.
At the time, it was not foreseeable that only twelve months later he would set up camp in the Autostadt. But that’s exactly what happened, although Waldschmidt had a good time with the Iberians and played with the club in the Europa League on the international stage.
From the Atlantic coast to the Autostadt
But Germany and the Bundesliga were more appealing to the offensive man, who started his professional career at Eintracht Frankfurt and then switched to Hamburger SV, than staying in Lisbon. And VfL lured not only with a good salary, but also the prospect of Champions League appearances. “I’m very happy to be back in the Bundesliga. That’s what I really wanted. After starting talks with those responsible, I quickly got the impression that the step to VfL Wolfsburg was exactly the right one for me. I’m convinced of it The club’s path, the philosophy and ambitions of VfL match my ideas one hundred percent,” explained Waldschmidt after moving to the Mittelland Canal.
Marcel Schäfer, at the time sporting director of the 2009 champions, said of the new acquisition: “He not only fits into our team in terms of sport but also in terms of his character. He is far from finished with his development and we are therefore pleased now to tackle our goals together with him.”
Three coaches at VfL in two years
What then followed, however, both sides had imagined differently in many areas. Waldschmidt did not really gain a foothold with the Lower Saxony team due to several injuries in his Wolfsburg debut season. And at VfL itself, chaos reigned. Mark van Bommel, successor to successful coach Oliver Glasner, was fired after just 13 competitive games. The Dutchman was followed by Florian Kohfeldt, under whose direction the “Wolves” managed to stay up in the league, but remained far from their actual goal, which was to qualify again for international business.
The former coach of Werder Bremen was already history after the end of the season in Wolfsburg.
Under Kovac often only on the bench or in the stands
So the next new beginning followed. Both for VfL and for Waldschmidt, who was repeatedly thrown back by injuries. The factory club hired Niko Kovac as a new coach. Things initially went badly for the Croatian. Lower Saxony could only win one of the first seven games. Kovac made some adjustments and put the “wolves” on the road to success. Waldschmidt, who was only in the starting XI once after the seventh matchday, was also the mainstay of this conversion work on the team.
Most of the time, the 27-year-old just sat on the bench or wasn’t in the squad at all. An unsatisfactory situation for the twelve million man, as he openly admitted in a “Transfermarkt” interview a few weeks before the end of the season: “My career shouldn’t be a roller coaster ride. Or let’s say: My career was enough of a roller coaster ride. I want more consistency , so more ascents, no more steep descents. I alone am responsible for this consistency.”
Self-critical words from a very talented footballer who, with a view to his career so far, added relentlessly honestly: “Even if everything hasn’t always gone perfectly, I’ve been relatively successful in my career so far. To be honest: not always with a lot of effort .”
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